Otherworld
by Turk 4 Life
Summary: Sent back in time by the Goddess Minerva, Tseng employs the help of four misfits to help atone for sins yet to be committed with Aerith's help. With the joints efforts of both SOLDIER and the Turks, can these new heroes manage to save the planet from ShinRa right under the company's nose? A Christmas giftfic beginning in the Crisis Core Timeline. (OCs and Canon)
1. The Beginning

**A.N: _Hello friends! So, I've always wanted to write a self-insert fanfiction where my friends/family get transported into a Final Fantasy world and have to work together with our dearly beloved characters to change the outcome of Square's already awesome and kick-ass plot lines. So, this story was born as a Christmas fic to my beautiful friends and family! I have omitted surnames for obvious reasons, and refuse to transform my the inserted people into Mary Sues and Gary Stus. I mean, we all have flaws and major issues and as a strange and cruel friend I am going to use this story as a means of exploring my friends' amazingly authentic and real personalities in the midst of many unknown scenarios and hopefully do justice to their existence in my beautiful reality *hearts*!_**

**_I don't expect many people to read this, nor do I encourage chance readers to feign interest just for a high review count- all I will say is: Read at your own discretion and enjoy the ride! And if you have anything to say about the story, feel free to PM me or drop a review! If you actually want to follow the adventures of these beloved characters, feel free to follow the story (haha!) and if you really adore this story for whatever reason, be it my portrayal of the FFVII cast, my writing style (LOL) or your connection to my loveable friends *hearts again* then feel free to favourite this story! :)_**

**_Also, just quickly, this story will involve fluff- but will not entail any major romance (unless it's canon). I'm all about the friendships and hilarious moments BUAHAHAHAHA!_**

**_Okay... this A.N. is long- but it will probably be the only A.N. I post in this story, other than replies to guest reviews! Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules. If I am, let me know and I'll remove this- or make it shorter._**

**_So, let's begin..._**

**_Merry Christmas, my lovely friends and family! :)_**

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><p><strong>Prologue- The Beginning <strong>

**Location: ?**

All Michelle could see was red and black energies surrounding her as she stumbled through an unknown, barren landscape. In the distance, she could see a small speck of green light that seemed to coax her towards it. Brushing her messy dark brown hair out of her eyes, she reached back and tied her long hair back into her usual pony tail before taking a deep breath and continuing forward. She didn't know where she was, or how she got to be standing in the dark void that seemingly stretched out into nothingness. All she could remember was being on a train back home from an evening in the city with her closest friends, Rebecca, Ilona and Hannah.

Michelle choked back a frightened sob as she thought about her friends. She hoped that they were all alive and well. She hoped that they were _being awkwardly silent _together.

Taking in the dark and eerie scenery around herself, she took in a deep breath and wiped her eyes hastily. Forcing a small smile onto her lips, she began her long journey towards the light, her eyes flickering about the red and black mist around her apprehensively.

It always helped to keep a positive mindset when things looked bleak, for if one had already reached rock bottom, there was no other direction one could go but upwards.

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><p><span><strong>Location: Sector 5 Church<strong>

The pleasant perfume scent of flowers and nectar wafted into Hannah's nose, and it was at the instance that she knew she wasn't on a train bound into the Sydney suburbs. That, and she was lying face down in what she thought was a patch of flowers. Moaning in slight discomfort, the coffee haired dancer slowly sat upright and began to stretch her arms and legs. After regaining feeling into her limbs, she hastily stood up and surveyed the area around her.

Her eyes widened comically as she took in the dilapidated state of the church. The pyres were crumbling, some had already fallen. The wooden floorboards were eroded with age, with some of the pulled out completely to make way for the small garden she had landed in. The numerous benches were haphazardly stretched out before her, and yet, they still looked organised. Overall, the environment she was in was peaceful and surprisingly soothing.

That is, until Hannah realised she was in the unknown Church all by herself.

Gasping loudly, Hannah did a three-sixty turn, quickly checking to see if any of her friends were lying around. Unfortunately, it was only her. Slumping her shoulders, Hannah felt her heartbeat begin to speed up. Her breaths came out in short, raspy gasps as the despaired reality began to sink into her heart.

"I'm alone…" As she spoke quietly to herself, the church doors were slowly pushed open. Letting out a surprised squeak, Hannah dramatically clutched at her chest and huffed as it was only a girl dressed in a blue and white summer dress armed with a small brown basket. Gathering her wits, Hannah wore a cheery smile on her face and waved enthusiastically at the approaching girl.

As the girl approached, Hannah couldn't help but take in her angelic appearance. Her thick, hazelnut coloured hair framed her face in two sides up to her chin, the rest of her wavy locks cascading down her back. Her pale skin complimented her feminine facial features, her forest green eyes shining and cherubic lips smiling happily at her. Her smile quickly turned into a worried frown as she caught sight of her crumpled flowers and residual petals stuck to Hannah's knitted sweater. Hannah blushed at the girl's scrutiny. Before she had the chance to apologise for the property damage, the younger girl was cheerfully smiling again.

"You're not from here, are you?" The kind girl asked. Her voice was soft and airy. Hannah shrugged, relaxing in the girl's presence. At least she wasn't alone any more.

"I don't really know where 'here' is…" Hannah frowned slightly. Realising she was frowning, she gasped sharply and shook her head quickly from side to side. "Oh man, these negative vibes are really getting me down!" Making eye contact with the patient girl in front of her, Hannah offered her hand to her. "Hi, I'm Hannah!" The girl grinned and placed her basket down on the ground beside her before taking the dancer's hand into her own.

"Hi Hannah, my name is Aerith! It's very nice to meet you," tilting her head towards the flowers, Aerith continued to speak. "No one usually comes here, so I tend to hang out here and look after the flowers. They only grow here… and it looks like you fell on them." Hannah nodded, dejectedly.

"Yeah… I don't really know how I wound up here, but I woke up in the flower bed. I'm really sorry!" Aerith shook her head, raising her arms up in protest.

"No, no! Don't be sorry! It's not your fault. The flowers here are very resilient. They'll be back to normal by tomorrow!" Aerith giggled. Hannah smiled at the younger girl's bright personality.

"That's good to hear!" Hannah began, however the dancer realised that she still didn't know where she was. Although, the young girl's name sounded very familiar…

Straightening up, Hannah gestured towards the door of the church.

"So Aerith, where am I, exactly?" Aerith gasped, raising her hands to her mouth in surprise.

"Oh, sorry! We're in the Church in the Sector 5 Slums. In Midgar…" Aerith trailed off, keeping her dainty finger on her chin in thought. "So, you said you're not from around here?" Hannah nodded, avoiding the younger girl's gaze. She willed herself not to start panicking in front of the girl. That would be too embarrassing. However, the names of the places… the locations… they all reminded her of Michelle's favourite hobby and passion: Final Fantasy VII.

Keeping her mouth shut, Hannah turned to Aerith and spoke before her common sense could catch up with her. She was transported to a world she was barely familiar with and she had no one she knew or trusted with her. And yet, this cheery girl standing before Hannah presented herself in such a way that Hannah seemingly had no choice but to trust her.

"No… I'm alone." She choked back a hysterical sob. She didn't want to look like a complete softie in front of the gentle, smiling girl before her. Aerith gasped and started forward, wrapping the distressed girl in a comforting embrace. Hannah inhaled and snuggled into the girl's shoulder. She smelled like fresh flowers and home-made cookies. Definitely not a dangerous smell.

"Oh Hannah, you're so silly! I'm here, aren't I? You can come and stay with my Mom and I while we look for your friends." Hannah gasped, pulling away from the kind girl.

"I don't want to impose on you!" Aerith shook her head vigorously, grasping gently at Hannah's forearm as she pulled the newcomer out of the Church and towards her Sector 5 home.

"Hey, we're friends now! I'm not going to let my friend stay all alone in the slums." Pulling enthusiastically at the older girl's arm, Aerith grinned brightly, her flower basket laying forgotten in the midst of her lively, colourful flowerbed. Hannah offered the girl a small smile as her heart beat began to calm down, her panic slowly fading as she quickly scampered along the dirty pathways, debris and junkyards before seeing a quaint, cottage-like home sitting peacefully in the distance.

Aerith was silent throughout the whole trip, but beaming happily as she enthusiastically tugged at her new friend's arm, urging her forward. Hannah's small smile widened, her dark, thick lashes brushing against the top of her pink flushed cheeks as she walked in step beside the young flower girl.

"Thank you for everything, friend." Aerith whipped her head to look in Hannah's direction and frowned slightly in jest.

"Hey, don't get all formal on me! There's no need to thank a friend. And it's my pleasure!" Hannah nodded, grinning brightly, her mood lifting despite her strange predicament. Even amongst all the chaos, she managed to find a good friend. She only hoped her other friends were safe and had the same fortune as she was blessed with.

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><p><strong>Location: Sector 8 Main Plaza<strong>

Rebecca groaned as she came to, slowly opening her eyes as her ears registered footsteps approaching her. Using her hands as leverage, she pushed herself up off the floor and dusted herself off before taking in her surroundings. The sun was setting and throngs of people were littered about around a magnificent looking fountain. Tall buildings loomed about around her, creating multiple alleyways around the dreary looking city. One building in particular rose above the rest, a sign clearly displaying the identification of the building. Although, without her glasses Rebecca couldn't make out what the distant sign said.

As she surveyed her surroundings, her thick, curly blonde hair made its way over her eyes and face, obstructing her view. Huffing in annoyance, Rebecca yanked off the spare black hair tie she kept on her wrist and violently twisted her hair into a make-shift bun. Some of her hair spilled out from what was supposed to be a neat do. Groaning in annoyance this time, Rebecca threw her hands up into the air and cried out.

"Where is everyone and where am I?" Hearing a familiar light cough originating from somewhere behind her person, Rebecca whirled around and came face to face with… the other side of the alley way. Shaking her head, the tall woman composed herself and turned back towards the fountain. As she was turning though, the familiar voice chose to speak again.

"Rebecca, down here!" Blue-grey eyes widening in realisation, Rebecca turned around and shifted her gaze to the hard, paved ground and found her best friend laying sprawled on her side. Her glasses were sitting askew just above her nose and her soft hair was splayed wildly around her face as she used her elbows to lift herself up off the ground painfully.

Rebecca chuckled dryly at the display.

"Looking fabulous, as always." Ilona looked up to her closest friend with an embarrassed smile on her face.

"Oh, _stahp it_!" Blinking a few times to clear her vision, Ilona frowned slightly as the blinking did nothing to defog her visual field. "Hey, is it just me, or is there a thick smog around us?" Rebecca looked at her shorter friend incredulously.

"Your glasses. They're dirty." Ilona gasped immediately and whipped she glasses off, rubbing the lenses onto the edge of her knee length summer dress.

"Don't say a word, Rebecca." Ilona warned as Rebecca's eyes filled with mirthful tears from holding back on laughing at the strange girl before her.

"Yeah, whatever you say," sobering up immediately as she turned back around to take in the city around her, Rebecca spoke. "We're obviously not on the train anymore. Any ideas about _where_ this place is?" Ilona stepped up beside Rebecca and shrugged, her eyes glistening with curiosity with regards to her surroundings.

"I have no idea, to be completely honest. Maybe we should go and ask around?" Ilona looked up at Rebecca who was now staring up at the tall building that stood out amongst the others.

"Yeah… let's go over there. Someone's bound to know what's going on. Maybe Michelle and Hannah are there too." Ilona nodded, biting her lip in worry. Rebecca was the bravest and most resourceful out of the group, and though she didn't want to doubt Michelle's ability to fend for herself, she was worried about her slightly older friend's penchant for procrastinating on everything she was to do when she became anxious. Being thrown into a strange location, presumably with Hannah who was also a naturally anxious person, wasn't going to help calm her friend maintain her positive thought pattern at all. But then again, Hannah and Michelle were the most positive people she knew… they could survive through any chaotic mess and still be able to flash a cheeky grin at the end of the day. Though, whether that positiveness stemmed from ignorance or strength, no one really knew…

Rebecca cleared her throat, snapping Ilona out of her worried thoughts.

"Do you think Hannah and Michelle are together?" Ilona sighed softly before stepping forward, starting their journey towards the building. Spying the large sign, Ilona's eyes widened at the familiar name.

"I hope so… it would be scary to be in an unknown place by yourself. I'm just really glad you were right there next to me when I woke up!" Rebecca nodded in acknowledgement at Ilona's thankful exclamation. "Oh and I think I may know where we are- but it's _impossible_!" Rebecca turned her full attention to her blabbering friend and cocked one eyebrow in amusement.

"Yeah… where do you think we are? And don't say something stupid like Luna Park because then I'll take your _dignity. And you won't get it back this time._." Ilona rolled her eyes at the childish threat, but still rubbed at her nose before answering Rebecca's question.

"You see that sign? It says 'ShinRa Electric Company'. Michelle always talked about the ShinRa and SOLDIER and the Turks and she despised some guy called Hojo… something about some SOLDIER deserving better…" Ilona trailed off. Rebecca nodded.

"Final Fantasy?" She stated calmly. Ilona nodded solemnly.

"I also remember this fountain from the small amount of Crisis Core I played on the train with her after that drug dealer incident." Rebecca barely contained her amused snort.

"She's such a doormat… I'm kind of worried about them." Ilona hummed in affirmation.

"Well, standing around here won't help them! I say we head on over to the ShinRa building and ask for some help!" Ilona chirped. Rebecca remained rooted on the spot, fidgeting with her hands.

"Is it such a good idea to go and ask an _evil_ corporation for help finding our lost friends? What if they take us into custody?" Ilona turned around to answer Rebecca's questions with a sarcastic retort, but stopped short as she spied a familiar red head wearing an unkempt suit step out of the shadows in their alley way.

"Ilona… what's wrong? Your face looks all spastic." Ilona ignored Rebecca's concerned insult and continued to stare at the gorgeous man lazily making his way towards them, a feral grin taking over his sharp, picturesque facial features.

"Tseng I found them, yo!" Reno drawled into a hand-held device. "They've been callin' themselves 'Ilona' and 'Rebecca' for the past ten minutes." Rebecca whirled around and nearly crashed face-first into the man's chest. Flushing in embarrassment and shock, Rebecca took a few quick steps backwards and stood in front of Ilona protectively.

"The f**k are you?" Rebecca demanded forcefully. The intruding red-head merely chuckled as he stared apathetically at the two girls before him.

"Reno of the Turks. Watch that tongue, cat, or I'll shock it off." Reno flourished his electro-mag rod as he winked flirtatiously at Rebecca. Feeling sick, Rebecca conjured up a mental picture of herself kicking the cocky bastard in the family jewels. She fought down the satisfied smirk that wanted to make its way onto her lips. Instead, she stared up defiantly at the man. Ilona cleared her throat behind her friend, gaining the attention of the Turk.

"Um… you were looking for us? How did you know we were here?" Reno flashed Ilona a cheeky grin as he shrugged.

"That's classified info, yo. Although, I think you'd be happy ta know that your friend Hannah is safe and technically under Turk protection." At this piece of information, Rebecca and Ilona let out a sigh of relief. They were both relieved that Hannah, the youngest of the four, was safe and well. However… that left Michelle…

"What about Michelle? Where is she?" Rebecca questioned, shifting her stance into a more relaxed position. Reno raised his free hand up to the back of his head, scratching nervously.

"Look, I dunno about any 'Michelle'. All I know is that your friend Hannah is at a safe and established location and that you two need to follow me." Rebecca looked back to Ilona, her brow furrowed. Ilona was still looking at Reno incredulously.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Reno smirked at this.

"You don't." Ilona gulped as Rebecca took a step forward, looking livid.

"Don't play games with us, you bastard. Or else I'll shove that rod up your ass." Reno raise his eyebrows, wriggling them suggestively.

"Oh, so you're the kinky type- I can handle that, yo!" Rebecca almost lunged at Reno, aiming for his neck, but was held down by a wide-eyed Ilona. Reno merely chuckled as he put his EMR away, shoving his hands into his pocket as he slowly led the way towards the ShinRa building. "You two… you're gonna be interesting additions to the team, yo!" Rebecca and Ilona exchanged looks, Rebecca still a little peeved as they both reluctantly followed the cocky Turk out of the alley way and towards the ShinRa building.

It was the only chance they had at being reunited with Hannah, after all.

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><p><strong>Location: ShinRa Infirmary<strong>

Sean felt a dull ache in his head. The cheery voices talking loudly around him were not helping with his terrible headache. Cracking one eye open, he immediately regretted his decision as his visual system was assaulted with bright, white artificial lighting. His hands shot up to grasp at his head as pain seared through it.

"What the hell? Am I in hospital?" Sean questioned, his voice coming out croaky from lack of fluids. The last thing he remembered was being on the treadmill at the gym, running like it was nobody's business before everything just blacked out. Now he was laying down on some cot in a room that smelt like his sister's insulin and surrounded by loud men.

Splendid.

"Hey man, you okay?" Sean heard a familiar voice ask him. He shrugged his shoulders refusing to open his eyes.

"I'm alive so I guess I'm okay. This headache though… what happened?" An amused snort resounded in Sean's ears and he turned towards the source, slowly opening his eyes. Squinting, he came face to face with a man wearing a helmet and… a purple SOLDIER Second Class uniform.

"Welcome to the ShinRa infirmary man. I thought you were dead or something, the way you were sprawled across the floor with your skull cracked like that!" The guy wearing the helmet exclaimed. Sean turned his head and nearly fell off his bed as he came face to face with SOLDIER Second Class Zack Fair. Literally nose to nose, Zack Fair blinked, his bright blue eyes momentarily disappearing before re-opening again and grinning ear to ear at the injured man on the cot.

"Yeah, dude, you kind of just showed up randomly! Lazard said he was interested in recruiting you into SOLDIER since you seem to have an abnormally high pain threshold. The fact that you survived… whatever happened to you… is amazing!" Sean nodded, not really understanding what was happening. All he knew was that he was having one screwed up dream that was resultant of too much Final Fantasy talk with his obsessed little sister.

Sean decided to humour his imagination and have a conversation with the SOLDIERs in his presence. It couldn't do him any harm anyway- he was trying to get into the Defence Force in real life. Who better to ask about the military life than Zack Fair and his friend?

"Sounds good. I'm Sean, by the way." Offering his hand to the grinning SOLDIER Second Class, he winced in pain as his arms, shoulders and upper torso protested against the movement. With a gasp of realisation, the SOLDIER wearing the helmet shot up out of his seat and out of the room, muttering something about a Restore Materia and a nurse. Zack shot Sean an apologetic look and tilted his head to the side as he shook the newcomer's hand thoughtfully.

"Heya, I'm SOLDIER Second Class, Zack Fair." Sean nodded, relinquishing his grip after a few moments.

"I know…" Zack's eyed widened in surprise, the sky-blue mako eyes shining with confusion.

"Uh… you do?" Sean repressed the urge to groan at his idiocy, shaking his head and weakly lifting his arms in protest.

"Oh, it's just that… you've earned quite the reputation for being such a friendly guy and what not," Sean's voice nearly cracked due to his nerves. If he really found himself in the world of Final Fantasy VII, he couldn't be a complete idiot and screw up his flimsy cover. He'd heard of enough self-insert fanfictions from his kid sister to know that the inserted character should under no circumstances tell the characters of the fantasy world that he had no idea where he was, how he got here or why he was here…

Sean sighed quietly, feeling his nose itch.

"Oh, well, that's cool I guess! Kunsel will be back with the nurse soon, so like, I'm gonna have to leave you here to fend for yourself my injured friend! I'll be back later with Director Lazard to authorise you for SOLDIER tests and stuff." Sean nodded, feeling a little wary. Wasn't this all happening a little too fast? Wasn't he supposed to be a cadet first before he gained a rank in the army? Sean was confused as he watched his new, self-proclaimed 'friend' cheerily walk out of his infirmary cubicle-thing.

Something wasn't right here.

It was almost like… Zack _knew_ Sean wasn't from Gaia… that Sean didn't belong to his world.

And he was okay with that.

Sean gulped, feeling a sense of dread creep over him just as a smiley, short old woman walked into his cubicle-thing with the faceless Kunsel in tow. In her hand she held a glowing green orb.

"Oh you poor darling! You took quite a fall, hit your head pretty hard too! I don't know what you were doing hiding in the Training Room, but you're lucky Mr. Hewley was concerned enough to stop his lesson and bring you here." Sean raised an eyebrow at the mention of SOLDIER First Class Angeal Hewley. So, he just randomly showed up in the Training Room? Sean shook his head slightly, wincing at the pain that shot through his skull. The smiling nurse tutted and eased a warm hand over Sean's forehead and beckoned him to lay on his back while she worked on healing him. Feeling a comfortable, warm sensation encompass him Sean sighed in contentment before Kunsel's coughing brought him back to his strange situation.

"So… Zack told me your name's Sean," Sean nodded, affirming Kunsel's statement, so Kunsel continued speaking. "I also know that you know my name. I heard Zack tell you. So, I'll just cut to the chase- how did you sneak into the Training Room undetected?" Sean gaped, shocked at Kunsel's frankness. What was he supposed to say now? Kunsel was expecting a good answer, apparently, as he stood with his arms folded and his faceless, helmet covered head tilted in a questioning manner. All in all, his stance wasn't hostile, but Sean still felt intimidated. Maybe it was the knowledge of the Second Class' mako enhanced… everything that kept Sean on edge.

Sean had no answer for Kunsel's question, so he did the only thing he could think of, hoping desperately that his solution to his current predicament was sufficient. However, even he knew his hastily formulated answer sucked ball sack. Still, he had no other choice.

Looking Kunsel in the eye (or where he estimated the man's eyes should be situated), Sean shrugged.

"I dunno… your guess is as good as mine." Kunsel stood silently for a few moments. Sean frowned as he realised that the nurse finished her healing and was now leaving the room. There were no witnesses. Kunsel could kill him in all the creative ways he learned to do so in SOLDIER school and no one would ever know.

Well they would… but who on the Planet would bother speaking on behalf of a stranger?

Did this world even have a criminal justice system?

Sean took in a shaky breath, waiting for Kunsel to act on his response.

He expected yelling, shouting, ass-kicking.

He did not expect a loud laugh, the revelation of a youthful, boyish face under the helmet and sparkling, warm brown eyes glowing in mako and unrestrained mirth as a companionable hand descended warmly onto his shoulder as the SOLDIER shuddered with amusement.

"You, I like you! You, Zack and I- we're gonna be good friends!" Sean couldn't help but grin in return, pleasantly surprised at Kunsel's reaction. Inside his mind though, his worry deepened.

They definitely knew he wasn't from this world. All this sunshine and rainbows were definitely an over active, optimistic imagination.

Sean sighed as he turned away from the still chuckling Kunsel.

Hopefully he'd wake up from this dream before it turned into a dreadful nightmare.


	2. Reunion

**A.N:_ Hello readers! :) This chapter actually came out after a short refractory period, which is good news to those who are actually following this self-insert adventure! Hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you _Anonymous Potato_ for your kind review, you potato you! Hope you find this chapter enjoyable and revel in Ilona's highly exaggerated personality quirks towards the end of the chapter LOL! *hearts*_**

**_On with the chapter!_**

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><p><strong>Chapter One- Reunion <strong>

**Location: ShinRa Headquarters**

Rebecca and Ilona stood awkwardly beside each other in an empty office, staring at each other's attire. Before one of them could begin commenting on the other's appearance, they were rudely interrupted.

"Lookin' sharp ladies!" Rebecca fought the urge to lunge at the insufferable red-head who chose that moment to casually able into the room. Instead she ignored him and turned her attention to adjusting the cuffs of her new 'uniform'. She wore black, loose fitting slacks and a short-sleeve blue button-up blouse under her partially zipped up black blazer. She absolutely refused to wear the shiny, lace-up leather shoes that were provided to her by her new 'employer'. After finishing high school, she had vowed to never wear those god awful shoes again. The grip on them were _terrible_ after all. Instead, her feet donned a ratty pair of well-loved navy blue converse. Wiggling her toes contentedly, Rebecca finished shoving her straw coloured hair into a loose bun before turning her attention to Ilona.

Ilona wore the black slacks, black shoes and a pale yellow blouse, foregoing the uniform blazer for the moment. The younger woman of the two grinned up at Reno, spreading her arms to her sides in an attempt to show off her new outfit.

"You really think so? I've got to say, I thought that these uniforms would be really stuffy but they're pleasantly comfortable!" Reno nodded at Ilona's enthused comment, striding past Rebecca and taking a seat on the two-seater situated against the wall of the small, yet neat office.

"Yeah, only the best for the Turks. You rookies have a lot of shit to learn so you might as well be comfortable during your torture." Rebecca watched as Ilona flinched visibly before turning to glare at their 'superior'.

Reno ignored this as Ilona piped up.

"Torture? You mean 'training', right?" Ilona raised her eyebrows in a hopeful expression, her hands clasped in front of her chest as if in prayer. Reno merely waved at her dismissively, continuing to grin at the glaring woman in front of him.

"Yeah, yeah- same thing, yo." Rebecca rolled her eyes at him and turned her back to the annoying man. Making eye contact with her best friend, she sent her what she had hoped was a meaningful look.

Ilona looked back at her, her face completely blank. So much for meaningful. Sighing, Rebecca gestured to her new phone's (which was referred to as a PHS device in Gaia) time display.

_13:47_.

It had been approximately one hour since they had been brought before Tseng, second in command of the Turks, and they barely understood _how _or _why_ they were being recruited into the Department of Administrative Research. The meeting was short and sweet, just as Reno had promised them, much to the chagrin of Rebecca. She was really looking forward to ripping him a new one if he'd lied to them. For reasons she could not articulate, Rebecca found the inappropriately casual Turk excruciatingly moronic- and this really grated on her nerves. Of all the people to be 'found' by, it had to be _him_. Reno, being annoyingly perceptive, had noticed this hostility and had quickly quipped that being found by himself was better than being found by Professor Hojo.

Both Ilona and Reno had shuddered at the name, so Rebecca presumed that this new Professor Hojo character was a bad guy.

Then again, based on her limited Final Fantasy VII research, the Turks were _also_ the bad guys.

Rebecca shook the irrelevant thoughts out of her head and continued to ponder about the meeting she'd just had. It was fairly obvious that the Turks were an exclusive bunch- it wasn't every day that they found two clueless young women in an alley way and threw uniforms in their direction. Tseng had briefly explained that much. However, his knowledge of their 'foreign-ness' was disconcerting.

_Tseng paused in his obligatory explanation of the exclusivity of the Turks and the gory job description and took the time to observe the two women's reaction to the new information. Rebecca stood comfortably with her arms folded in front of her and a sceptical look on her symmetrical features. Ilona stood straight, at attention and even nodded along to what he was saying with a thoughtful look in her dark eyes._

"_Let me cut to the chase. It's obvious that you two are not from this world. We've had a similar disturbance observed in the Sector 5 slums and in the SOLDIER training room on level 49 of this building. The Board of Directors do not know what to make of this situation, but it is obvious that you are not hostiles-" Tseng was cut off by a rather obnoxious cough from Rebecca._

"_So what? You're going to offer us _jobs_?" she scoffed slightly before continuing, completely ignoring Tseng's annoyance, pronounced by his clenched jaw. "You're a bright bunch, aren't you? ShinRa's head honchos can rest assured with you guys watching their backs!" Ilona's eyed widened in shock as she glanced at both Tseng and Rebecca in quick succession._

"_Sir, I am so sorry about her. When she's uncomfortable, she becomes sarcastic! She means no harm…" Rebecca openly laughed at Ilona's half-baked apology/excuse._

"_She's lying, I'm always like this." Ilona shot her best friend a tired look before staring pleadingly at the tall, annoyed man standing behind the desk. He sighed, bringing his fingers to his temple and rubbing gently as he considered what he was going to say next. Rebecca grinned in triumph while Ilona silently prayed for mercy. From what Michelle had told them about the Turks, they were a funny, yet dangerous bunch. Ilona was worried that if Rebecca pissed Tseng off enough, he could dispose of both of them quickly, quietly and efficiently, leaving no evidence behind regarding their murders for anyone to find!_

_Not that anyone knew or cared about them enough to look into their murders/disappearances in Gaia. Besides Hannah or Michelle… or anyone else who had been sucked into the Final Fantasy VII world along with them…_

_Ilona stopped her silent praying, her eyes widening in realisation. _

_They'd detected another similar disturbance in the building…_

_Could it be Michelle?_

_Ilona abruptly stepped forward, an excited glint in her eyes as she leaned forward on Tseng's desk. Tseng looked up slowly, a frown marring his exotic, masculine facial features._

"_You said there was another disturbance like ours in the building, sir. Could we, maybe… go and see if we can identify the person?" Tseng regarded Ilona with a cautious eye, looking for any malicious intent in her demeanour. Being met with only a child-like excitement and naïve hope, the second in command sighed heavily and glanced at a slightly more alert Rebecca. Seeing that the two were obviously interested in seeing the new arrival who was currently housed in the Infirmary, he conceded._

"_Fine. But first I'll need you to sign these employment contracts," he pushed two small piles of forms in the girl's direction. Looking up, he saw them both eyes the papers apprehensively. He let out a dry chuckle at their guarded facial expressions. "Don't worry, they're just standard work place contracts. After you go through these, I'll have Reno escort you to a private office where your uniforms are laid out for you." Rebecca raised her eyebrows at this._

"_You don't even know our sizes." She deadpanned. Tseng raised his eyebrows in challenge._

"_We're Turks, we don't need to take your measurements to know your sizes." Contorting her face into one of disgust, Rebecca dramatically recoiled from Tseng's general direction._

"_You should rename your division 'The Creeps'. Seriously, that's so weird." Ilona couldn't help but agree with her best friend even as she warily signed her name onto the dotted lines. Despite this, she looked up after finishing and made direct eye contact with the intimidating, no-nonsense man standing before her._

"_After we're ready, you'll take us to see the person?" Tseng nodded immediately in affirmation._

"_If there are no pending missions, I'll personally escort you. If I am called away on short notice, I'll send our third in command." Rebecca snorted at this, gaining Tseng's exasperated attention. Looking up, Rebecca grinned up at him cheekily._

"Our_? Getting a little ahead of yourself there Mr. Turk!" Tseng blinked once at the cheeky young woman before him and sighed as he took in the sight of her pen hovering over the dotted line. Reaching over to push her hand softly, yet firmly onto the paper, he eyed her warily._

"_Just sign the damn paper work."_

Rebecca chuckled mirthfully as she thought about the meeting. Tseng was fun to mess with- that was for sure. Still, he hadn't told them _how_ he knew they weren't from Gaia. That was what kept Rebecca wary despite her outer apathy towards the situation. Stealing a glance of their new 'escort', she barely stopped herself from letting out a sarcastic comment about his obviously dyed red hair. She couldn't even fathom how such an asshole became a Turk, and at that, the third in command.

His rank would suggest that his skills were on par with the no nonsense Tseng. Rebecca shuddered at the thought. If Reno really was as skilled as Tseng's impressive aura suggested, maybe she should consider turning down the sarcasm and sass.

She stole another covert glance at Reno, who was now pulling on Ilona's soft hair playfully with a cheeky grin on his face, ruining her friend's previously neat hair do. Rebecca shook her head, a small grin of her own playing on her lips. Nah, she'd continue the sarcasm and sass- it didn't look like he was offended by it anyways.

"So," Rebecca spoke loudly, interrupting Reno's tugging and Ilona's pouting. "Are we going any time soon?" Reno smirked as he stood from his comfortable position on the couch and tilted his head at the door.

"Yeah, let's go." Ilona quickly re-tied her hair, grumbling slightly as she stood up and hastily made her way past an amused Reno. Rebecca offered Ilona a genuine smile before linking arms with her best friend and mimicking Reno's head tilt, this time gesturing at the hallway that lay ahead of them.

"After you, hot shot." Reno rolled his eyes at her, but quietly led the way to the elevator. Ilona took in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

If they were lucky, it really would be Michelle. Then they could collect Hannah from where she was staying in the slums and then be safe together, working out how to get back to planet Earth and continuing with their lives. For surely, their friends and families back home would notice they were missing and would be worried sick.

Ilona let out her breath as both she and Rebecca- Junior Turks- followed their third in command into the elevator.

Surely… they would strike it lucky and find someone they knew at least.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Location: ShinRa Infirmary<strong>

Sean's eyes widened in horror as he spotted a familiar hunched figure in a lab coat amble over to his cot, a malevolent glint in his bespectacled eyes. That was not a good sign, not from this man.

"Why is he here?" Sean turned to Director Lazard, who in turn offered him an apologetic look.

"All SOLDIERs go through the same procedure. Mako injections are just part of the program. We had you tested while you were knocked cold. You have an abnormally high resistance to the substance." Sean found himself frowning at the man who was technically his boss now.

"So that's why you offered me a job as SOLDIER. Because I have a high tolerance to this stuff…" The SOLDIER director merely shot Sean an exasperated look before nodding at Hojo, who grinned happily. Sean's eyes landed on the silver brief case the crazy professor had brought along with him. Settling it onto a small mobile table, he opened up the combination locks and furrowed his brows as he measured out the glowing fluids he'd brought along with him in little vials. Sean's eyes widened further at the sight of the toxic looking substance. Feeling scared, he turned his head towards the Director and shot him a pleading look. Lazard ignored his pathetic gaze and glanced at his silver watch with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, look at the time! I've got to go to a mission debriefing," Lazard glanced at Sean briefly, barely taking the time to look at the young man's pained expression before waving dismissively. "I wish you all the best, you'll be fine." Sean moaned pathetically, before realising that his efforts of gaining Lazard's sympathy were for naught. His moan turned into a pained grunt as he felt a needle plunge into his forearm.

He wasn't too worried about the mako. They had already said that the tests had been completed with great results. No… it wasn't the mako. It was the needle. Sean absolutely _hated_ needles. Even those little finger pricking things that took a minute amount of blood from one's finger tips scared the crap out of him. He definitely was not a fan of sharp, pointy things.

Mere moments after he realised that there was a needle in his arm, Sean began to panic, thrashing his sore arms and legs around in an attempt to throw the professor off his arm. This effort was to no avail, however, as Sean's fatigued limbs screamed in protest against the movement. Professor Hojo merely smirked in Sean's direction, pulling the needle out of his forearm and slapping a band aid onto his patient's arm without a care in the world for Sean's comfort.

"That wasn't _so_ bad, was it?" Hojo sneered at Sean. Sean grimaced back at the professor, bringing his assaulted and sore arm to his chest.

"You're crazy man," Hojo scoffed at this, turning his attention back to his silver brief case, packing away his equipment efficiently.

"That's not the worst I've been called. You should consider yourself lucky boy. Other men would be writhing in pain by now. Surely, if I had my way, you'd be strapped to an observation table in my lab and I'd soon hold the secret to creating a proper super soldier!" He cackled maniacally at this admission, causing Sean to scoot back on his cot to put more distance between Hojo and himself. The man was creeping him out and he was in no condition to run from the demented, yet admittedly brilliant, man. Sean frowned as he pondered over the professor's statement. Didn't Hojo already successfully create the best super soldier in Gaia? From what he'd learnt from playing Crisis Core, Hojo had definitely one-upped Hollander regarding his questionable human experiments. Sean shook his head sadly at the thought of the three great SOLDIER First Class personnel. Judging by Zack's rambling about Angeal's recommendation for him to move up to First Class rank, Genesis had already defected. Angeal was definitely aware of the degradation and Sephiroth… well Sephiroth was feeling betrayed and alone.

Sean sighed again, suddenly feeling completely helpless. Lost in his own thoughts, he hadn't noticed that Hojo had been ushered out of his infirmary cubicle and was promptly replaced by the smiling nurse and a familiar looking red head wearing what looked like an unkempt black suit. Blinking rapidly, he looked between the two newcomers raised his eyebrows in question.

The smiling nurse stepped forward, holding a cup of cold water and a few white pieces of paper.

"SOLDIER Director Lazard asked me to give these to you to sign after the procedure had been completed. And I thought you could use some hydration after that mako injection." Sean nodded in appreciation, throwing the jolly woman a bright smile before gulping down the water desperately. He hadn't realised how thirsty he was. In his rush, he began to choke on the water, inciting amused chuckles from the man standing in the room.

"Calm down, yo! No one's gonna take ya water." Sean shot a sharp look at the familiar man through watery eyes as his coughing fit slowly receded. He took in the appearance of the man and just barely stopped himself from gasping in surprise. Standing before him was Reno of the Turks in all of his unkempt glory. Averting his eyes from the man, Sean wondered what was happening now. After a moment of pondering, he decided to introduce himself as it was only polite and it was clear that he's be seeing the man around more often in the future.

"Hey, I'm Sean." Reno nodded, waving an arm dismissively in Sean's direction.

"Yeah, Nurse Joy here already briefed me on ya." The smiling nurse _frowned_ at Reno's remark, her arms promptly placed on her hips.

"I resent that. My name is Matilda." Reno ignored her, opting to step closer to the now-SOLDIER on the cot.

"You're the guy who randomly popped up in the training room," Reno's eyes took on a serious glint as he took in Sean's appearance. "Dude, I don't know how you survived all your injuries but Tseng's mighty disappointed he didn't get to ya before SOLDIER did." Sean frowned at this.

"Um, why is that?" Reno sat himself down on a chair he'd pulled from somewhere and placed his feet on Sean's cot, reclining backwards like he owned the place. Sean ignored the dirty shoes on his white sheets and looked at Reno with curiosity.

"Well, we need all the people we can get, ya know? SOLDIER's already big enough as it is. The Turks need some love too- how else will our funding increase?" Sean nodded along, understanding where Reno was coming from. It was clear that the more people involved in the operation of the Turks, the more money would be allocated to their operations. The newly appointed SOLDIER Third Class felt slightly regretful- being with the Turks would have been cool. However, being scouted into SOLDIER in the manner he had been wasn't something to scoff at. Sean grinned up at Reno, leading the Turk to adopt a bewildered look on his face.

"Well, I'm sure there are plenty other people out there who want to be assassins and extortionists." Reno frowned at Sean's cheery statement of 'reassurance'.

"Gee, thanks yo." The red head deadpanned. Sean nodded in acknowledgement.

"Any time bro. So, what are you doing here?" Sean relaxed, easily slipping into conversation with the Turk. The young man couldn't help but bring down his guard in front of the laid back Turk- it was clear that all Reno wanted to do was drop by to observe him. Sean chuckled internally; the Turk could observe as much as he wanted to. He wasn't about to go anywhere or do anything until he felt better and figured out how on Earth (or Gaia) he wound up in this peculiar situation in the first place.

Reno smirked, raising his eyebrows suggestively all of a sudden. Sean gave him a look of distaste and turned away from the man's suggestive look.

"Oh calm down, will ya? I'm just kidding- I don't swing that way man. I got some new recruits wantin' to see ya." Sean's eyes widened at this.

"New Turks?" Reno nodded.

"Yeah, just don't be too disappointed when they lose their enthusiasm at the sight of you." Sean winced.

"Am I _that_ gross looking right now?" Sean panicked slightly- he hadn't even gotten a chance to check over his appearance in a mirror. What if he looked hideous? Sean prided himself on his looks, even though he wasn't too vocal about it. He didn't want the first actual women he'd meet in this world to thing he was a complete mess of a man!

Reno rolled his eyes at Sean's visibly paling tan complexion.

"Geez, you look hawt. Now I'm gonna call them in- who knows, maybe you know them…" It was Sean's turn to roll his eyes at Reno's retreating back.

"Yeah, just go." Reno flipped Sean off without turning around, making Sean grin. Reno was a tolerable and fun man to talk to. Maybe they could even become good friends…

Sean was rudely brought out of his thoughts as two familiar voices floated into the room.

"… wonder if it's actually her." An airy, high voice resounded in the room. Sean sighed, bringing his fingers to his temple to massage them soothingly. He knew that voice.

"If it is, I'm going to hug her. And then I'll kick her ass for making us worry." Sean shook his head, realising that he also knew the second, sarcasm laden voice.

"How many times do I have ta tell ya? The person in there's a _dude_! Like, with a penis and balls and shit." Sean rolled his eyes at the description as he heard a shocked gasp coming from the high pitched voice.

"Gawd, you are so gross Mr. Reno sir!" Sean watched the group enter the room with an amused smile on his face. He instantly recognised the two girls who wore the Turk uniforms standing behind a bewildered looking Reno.

"Rebecca and Ilona, right?" Sean spoke, nodding at the two hyper young women. Rebecca stopped poking Ilona's face long enough to glance his direction, her happy face falling first into shock and then into slight disappointment.

"Oh, it's just Michelle's brother." Ilona stopped gaping at Reno's idiocy as he insisted that everyone refrain from calling his 'sir' in case he didn't respond in a dire situation despite his higher rank, and rounded on the cot in the room. Her eyes took in the rugged appearance of Sean before she sighed, her eyes slightly tearing up in disappointment.

"This sucks eggs. Boiled eggs." Rebecca nodded, patting Ilona's head in consolation.

"That's something Michelle would have said." Sean frowned, tapping his fingers onto the dirty linen at his side, courtesy of Reno's dirty leather boots.

"Thanks guys. I feel so safe and secure now that I have met people that I actually personally know of. I'm glad you share the same sentiments." Reno nodded, stepping towards Sean in support.

"Yeah, seriously guys, show some support for the dude. If he's this 'Michelle's' brother, then he'd be just as eager to find her as you guys are." Ilona nodded, shaking her head as if she were shaking the disappointment out of it. Rebecca merely stood beside her best friend, staring at Sean as if she were willing him to magically morph into Michelle.

Reno noticed this and reached out to obnoxiously click his fingers in front of her face. Startled at the loud, sharp noise, Rebecca whirled on him, her grey-ish eyes attempting to burn holes into his face.

"Take a picture of him, it will last longer. I mean, sure, he's not going anywhere at the moment but sooner or later he's gonna be out and about and you may not get the chance ever again." Ilona blinked, confused at the direction the dialogue in the room had gone.

"Um, what do you mean?" Reno looked at the shortest person in the room, sighing dramatically with his hand raised in a surrender position.

"As in, take a picture, duh! Ilona, if you're going to be a good Turk, you're going to have to start paying attention." Ilona folded her arms, her eyes narrowing in protest.

"Hey, I _was_ paying attention until you guys started talking about taking pictures of Moosh's brother!" Reno raised his eyebrows at the mention of a 'Moosh'.

"What the f**k is a 'Moosh'?" Rebecca rolled her eyes at his crude enquiry.

"It's Michelle's nickname, dick weed." Ilona giggled at the insult thrown at an unaffected Reno.

"Hehe… _dick weed_." Sean cleared his throat, attempting to gain the three Turks' attention.

"Um, guys… I don't mean to be rude and interrupt but… you mind filling me in about my sister and _everything else that's going on_?" Reno blinked innocently down at Sean, who was now glaring impatiently at the red head.

"Dude, why are you lookin' at me like that? I thought we were cool?" Sean sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He just wanted all of this nonsense to begin making sense. And soon.

"We will be cool the moment you fill us in on what you know about our situation and where Michelle is, if she is in fact here in this place at all!" Reno stared at Sean, contemplating his options before letting out a frustrated groan as he rolled his shoulders back. Ilona and Rebecca looked between the two men in the room before exchanging questioning glances between themselves.

Ilona leaned towards Rebecca, speaking in a low tone of voice so that only Rebecca could hear her.

"Do you feel the sexual tension?" Rebecca shot her best friend an incredulous look.

"Really Ilona? That's all you can think of right now?" Ilona glared up at the taller woman.

"Don't pretend you don't feel it. They're fighting like they're gonna jump each other any moment now!" Ilona didn't notice that Sean's face had contorted into one of extreme disgust aimed in her direction.

"I thought you were innocent!" Sean cried. Ilona jumped, startled at his loud voice. Reno chuckled, winking at Ilona's now mortified expression as Rebecca broke into hysterical laughter at Ilona's expense.

"SOLDIERs and their enhanced senses, huh? Most of the time they're really handy," Reno shot an amused look at the disgusted looking SOLDIER perched on the cot. "Other times, they're a curse, yo!" Sean glared at Reno.

"Shut up. Just tell us what's going on." Ilona quickly agreed, still blushing a violent red. Rebecca vainly tried to contain her laughter as Reno shot the foreign group an amused smirk.

"Yeah, yeah- let me make a few calls and then I'll let ya know what you can head on over to the Briefing Room on Floor 49." Sean raised his eyebrows at the Turk, who was turning around to leave the room.

"Isn't that the SOLDIER Briefing Room?" Reno nodded.

"Your point?" Sean shook his head.

"Nothing, nothing. Just hurry it up. I'm confused and hungry." Reno's face took on a thoughtful expression before his green eyes widened in what Rebecca thought was a 'eureka!' moment. Reno turned to the two new Turks and pointed to the temporarily immobile man on the cot.

"Your first mission: make the man a sandwich!" Sean's eyes widened in shock as he took in Ilona's slowly changing facial features. She looked livid at the seemingly innocent suggestion. Reno cocked his head to the side in question. He wondered why the small girl was getting so worked up.

And then she exploded.

"Years of progress for women, all that effort by the feminist movement! All unravelled by one stupid request by an idiotic superior who is a _man_ to go and make a sandwich for another man! I can't believe this! I thought that this world was above patriarchy and misogyny! I guess I thought wrong!" With a huff, Ilona stormed out of the room, shoving past a bewildered Reno. Rebecca stood rooted on the spot, her gaze lazily tracing Ilona's journey down the hallway. Turning her eyes to an exasperated Sean and then to a severely confused Reno, she mock saluted her superior Turk.

"I'll go make that sandwich, hot shot. Then I'll go find Ilona and tell her that you didn't mean to be a woman hater." Reno nodded dumbly as he watched the tall blond woman walk out the door of the infirmary cubicle.

Turning to Sean, he was met with an apathetic gaze as the immobile SOLDIER shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't look at me, man. I wasn't the one who asked for a sandwich." Reno sighed, shaking his head before lazily throwing a salute at his new SOLDIER friend and making his way towards the Turk Director's office to organise an information briefing session for the new arrivals.


	3. I am Grateful

**A.N: _Hey all! I hope the New Year is treating you well! Sorry for the late update- I was trying to make the plot movement all subtle and add in drama and all that jazz and it all just exploded into a nearly-6000-word chapter LOL! Anyways, enjoy and let me know if it's confusing! I may re-work this chapter after posting a few more chapters because I still haven't figured out who knows what and who and etc etc... Thank you _Anonymous Potato_ for your fabulous review :D I enjoy them very much teehee! I also enjoy the messages I get from you asking me for the next chapter HAHAHAHA! Sorry for making you wait so long. Also, thanks to _Bunny_ for being so supportive and encouraging of this fic and its progress! *hearts*!_ Becca..._ when I finally link this to you after I read 20,000+ words... I hope you don't kill me for your obnoxious-like characterisation! IT JUST HAPPENED AND I LOVE MY FICTIONAL VERSION OF YOU, KAY?! _**

**_Also, special thanks to _Aeris Cetra_ for the favourite and follow! :) I didn't know anyone else was reading this! :D_  
><strong>

**_On with the story now! :D_**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two- I am Grateful<strong>

**Location: Sector 5- Gainsborough Residence**

Using her fingers, Hannah brushed her messy coffee coloured hair out of her face and took a few moments to re-orient herself with her surroundings. It had been approximately two weeks since she'd been welcomed warmly into Aerith's small, yet welcoming family. Elmyra Gainsborough was more than happy to provide a warm shelter and emotional support to the scared young woman who was clearly from another reality. Hannah did often find herself thinking about exactly _why_ these people were being so good to her without reason, but she didn't have the guts to ask them about it. She'd probably end up offending them or something, and that was the last thing the young woman wanted to do.

"Aerith, you are _not_ to step out this door until the laundry is done! The flowers can wait." Hannah grinned impishly as she tossed her warm patchwork quilt from her body. Letting herself shiver from the contact with cool, morning air, the young brunette rubbed at her eyes before slipping out of bed and padding her way to the dresser she had been given to put Aerith's hand-me-down and a few of Elmyra's hand knitted cardigans and sweaters. Not paying too much attention to coordinating her outfit, as she was not dressing to impress- she was living in the slums for goodness sake; they had bigger problems than honing in on self-proclaimed fashion terrorists- she pulled out a white blouse with black frill details on the short sleeved shoulders and a pair of faded blue jeans. Grabbing other feminine necessities, Hannah dragged her feet towards the bathroom and religiously performed her morning hygiene routine. As she brushed her teeth, she could hear Aerith's airy voice carry through the closed wooden door.

"_Mom_, you're no fun!"

"Don't pout at me young lady, you live in this house, you have to help me out with the chores."

"Aww, okay…"

"That's my girl. Don't worry, Hannah's here to help you out so you'll get it all done quicker than usual!" Hannah rinsed her face, a cheesy smile fixed onto her face. Aerith and Elmyra were so sweet with each other, and they had no qualms about sharing the family vibes with her. It was strange but Hannah felt little anxiety when she was constantly interacting with the Gainsboroughs. For that in itself, she was infinitesimally glad. Hannah quickly dried her face and got ready for the day ahead. After dressing, the young woman wrenched the bathroom door open, as it had an inconvenient tendency to wedge itself shut early in the morning, before jogging quietly back to her room and sliding on her new Titan Bangle. She smiled down at it fondly, lightly tracing over the two glowing marbles that were slotted into the grooves. Elmyra provided Hannah with 280 gil (Hannah had a hard time getting her head around the fact that the currency was named after aquatic breathing apparatus) to buy some armour _just in case_.

Apparently, the slums were home to a few low level monsters. This gentle admission by Elmyra had almost sent Hannah into a panic attack had it not been for Aerith's reassuring words that reiterated the fact that it was really easy to outsmart and outrun the monsters. Still, after buying the Titan Bangle, Aerith and Hannah quickly returned to their home where Aerith fished out a green Level 2 Restore Materia and a red Level 3 Shiva Materia. Hannah didn't know much about Final Fantasy VII as she hadn't really played it, but from what she heard from Michelle, summons were hard to come by and levelling up material was a pain in the butt. Hannah tried desperately to refuse Aerith's selfless gifts, but the younger girl would not hear of it. Levelling Hannah with a stern gaze and frown, Aerith had merely slotted the two magical marbles into Hannah's new bangle and murmured something about 'protection'.

Hannah shook the thoughts out of her head and rushed into the small wooden platform that led to the stairs. Bounding down energetically, Hannah resisted the urge to enter the small kitchen using cartwheels. The last time she tried such an act in the small space, she'd nearly decimated Elmyra's favourite vase. She'd received a stern scolding from the motherly woman, and Hannah knew that it was well deserved. The older girl broke into a quiet giggle as she remembered Aerith's mirthful eyes barely succeeding in containing her laughter at Hannah's expense. She was definitely the little sister Hannah never had.

The brunette's giggles quietened down as her lips gave way to a sad smile. She couldn't help but wonder what the Gainsborough family dynamic would be like if Michelle had been with her. Surely, Michelle would be that over-cautious older sister type who goofed off at any opportunity afforded to her.

"I wonder where she is…" Hannah spoke quietly to herself.

"You mean Michelle?" Hannah jumped, raising a hand to her racing heart as she whirled around to be greeted with a wide-eyed Aerith Gainsborough, her hands resting behind her back as she leaned towards Hannah. Her body language screamed 'curiosity'. Hannah took a deep breath to calm her racing heart as she dramatically threw her arms around the younger girl.

"Oh, _don't do that_!" Hannah felt Aerith's gentle arms wrap about her in a loose embrace.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Aerith giggled. Hannah shook her head and pulled away from the flower girl and took in her appearance. Today she wore a knee-length, sleeveless green summer dress with her usual white sandals. Her long, chocolate brown hair was tied back in the usual braid, with her side bangs framing her feminine facial features. Her green eyes were full of life and warmth, as per usual. Hannah found herself wanting to hold the same extent hope and positivity in her own eyes. Not that she wasn't an optimist, it was just that there were times where her dark thoughts would take her away to some place that was hard to get out of. Still, it had been a while since she spiralled head first into her negative vibes and she wanted to keep it that way.

"Sure you didn't," Hannah grinned, tucking a stray strand of her own hair behind her ear. "So… laundry!" Hannah exclaimed, her eyes bright as they darted this way and that in anticipation of the mundane, ordinary task. The past two weeks had been so full on, despite all the hospitality Aerith and Elmyra offered, that laundry was something Hannah looked forward to doing simply because it was such a _normal_ thing to do. Aerith frowned and shook her head, pointing a dainty finger towards the kitchen.

"We should have breakfast first." Hannah blushed as her stomach rumbled just as Aerith finished her sentence. Hearing this, Aerith giggled into her hand. "Oh, what am I going to do with you, Sis?" Hannah's eyes widened at Aerith's endearment before she grinned at the petite flower girl.

"You're going to march into that kitchen with me and watch me eat my toast, that's what!" Dramatically waving her hands in a flourish, Hannah turned on her heal and skipped into the kitchen, her spirits high, as a giggling Aerith followed closely behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Location: SOLDIER Floor Level 49- ShinRa Headquarters<strong>

Reno grinned at Tseng as he ambled into the SOLDIER Briefing Room with Ilona, Rebecca and Sean in tow. Tseng nodded at them in greeting, his stern facial expression well in place. Sean nodded back in return, slumping down into the nearest chair, as his body was still quite sore from his 'miraculous' appearance. Rebecca pulled Ilona into a chair next to her, opposite to where Sean sat. Tseng raised his eyebrows at the seating arrangement and turned to look at Reno who merely shrugged jovially in return.

"Don't look at me, soldier boy here decided to call the girls 'Little Turds' on the way here and they had a minor falling out." Tseng's eyebrows were still raised as he sent a pointed look at the newly appointed SOLDIER. Offended at the negative attention, Sean raised his hands so that they were on either side of his head in a gesture of surrender.

"Hey, Michelle _loved it_ when I called her that! How was I supposed to know her best friends didn't take well to endearment?" Rebecca scoffed, nudging a slightly affronted Ilona with her elbow.

"Do you hear this asshole? He claims that Moosh actually liked being called a little shit," Reno chuckled at Rebecca's comment, but immediately stopped when both Tseng and Sean glared at him.

"Geez, guys! Just lighten up already. He's the chick's older brother, he's got all the right to call her anything he wants." Tseng's eyebrows could not raise any higher as he took in the sight of Reno actually saying something that made sense for once. Sean made a noise of affirmation and turned his gaze to Tseng and cleared his throat.

"So, what's going on here? Where's their ballerina friend?" Sean glanced at the peeved Rebecca and sulking Ilona. "Hannah is her name, yeah?" Ilona nodded, a thoughtful look on her face.

"That's right, where is she? You said you knew where she was. If that's the case, shouldn't you have just brought her here to headquarters?" Tseng shook his head and took a seat at the head of the conference table. Reno's face, which was usually fixed with a goofy expression, was now somewhat subdued. Rebecca glanced up at the red-head and refrained from asking about his sudden change in demeanour.

It was really weird, seeing the man being serious for once. To her credit, Rebecca sobered up from her foul mood and sat up straight to pay attention to what was being said. Ilona, who was already sitting up straight, ended up leaning forward in her seat eagerly. Sean tilted his head to the side, ready to listen to what the second-in-command of the Turks had to say about the situation. Tseng took a moment to glance at the newcomers before nodding at Reno and pressing a switch on what seemed to be a small remote in his hand. The blank screen behind him suddenly flared into life, a picture of three females sitting around what seemed to be a hearty breakfast meal. Rebecca's mouth fell open as she recognised the coffee-haired young woman who was pictured just as she took a bite out of her toast.

"You… took a picture of them… eating breakfast." Rebecca deadpanned. Tseng nodded in return as their gazes met.

"It is our job to keep constant surveillance on the Ancient and those closest to her. From here on in, the Ancient will be referred to as 'Aerith'," Sean nodded, while Rebecca and Ilona exchanged incredulous looks with one another. Ilona timidly raised her hand, stopping Tseng from continuing his briefing. Sending her a pointed stare, Ilona took his stern look as permission to ask her question.

"Um, why do you call her 'ancient'? She looks like a teenaged girl." Rebecca turned to Tseng, curious for an answer. Tseng sighed and raised a hand to his forehead as he shook his head in disbelief.

"We do not reference her age when we label her as an Ancient- rather, it's more of a classification of species." Rebecca's gray-blue eyes widened in surprise.

"What? Is she not human?" Tseng sighed and turned his head towards the screen, his back facing the newcomers and Reno. Rebecca rolled her eyes and glanced at Reno, whose sharp features were now solely focused on the screen before him. With-holding an exasperated sigh, Rebecca decided to keep her questions to herself for now. For now, she would just listen and try to make useful contributions with whatever information could be afforded to her.

"Aerith is _very _important, and it is our duty to keep her safe from harm. If we were to approach the Gainsborough household in the company's time, we'd be putting Aerith and the planet in grave danger. We must keep ShinRa away from her. That being said, the Turks must remain present at and around the Gainsborough residence. It is imperative that no unsavoury characters have access to her." Ilona and Rebecca nodded, a little confused, but not willing to interrupt Tseng's barrage of information. Sean let out a frustrated sigh.

"So you don't want to let ShinRa guys near her, but at the same time you want to keep ShinRa's assassins around for surveillance duty? I don't understand this at all!" Sean's voice rang loudly in everyone's ears. Ilona winced while Rebecca glared at Sean.

"Well, as much as I'd hate to admit it, we're not the experts here. _They_ are. They've been keeping an eye on this Aerith chick for a while now and that's obvious based on their creep-tastic photo collection," Sean scoffed and turned his head away from Rebecca. In turn, the blond took in a deep breath. Continuing to speak, her voice took on a soft tone. "Look, I get it. You're worried about Michelle- heck I'm scared that we'll be looking for Michelle only to be told that she's dead or something. That doesn't mean that we stumble head first into a mess that we have little knowledge about. That will just get us killed." Sean's shoulders slumped as Rebecca's reasoning got through to him. Ilona smiled at her best friend, moving minutely closer to offer her silent support.

"Damn, at least she's got her head on straight! Tseng made the right call, recruiting you." Rebecca turned to the goofball who had just spoken, a mixture of shock and smugness making up her facial expression. Reno rolled his eyes as he caught sight of it. "You're still a rookie though, so act like one sweet cheeks." Rebecca's face immediately took on an affronted expression as she crossed her arms and looked away from the red-headed trouble maker.

"I resent that." She deadpanned. Tseng cleared his throat, gaining the attention of his Turks and the lone SOLDIER in the room. Reno turned to Tseng with a content grin on his face.

"I appreciate your concern and can empathise with your frustration SOLDIER, however this is a delicate operation that is much bigger than you can possibly imagine. If anything goes wrong, the fate of the Planet will be greatly compromised." Ilona frowned at this admission.

"Essentially, you're trying to tell us that Hannah will be safest with Aerith at this point of time. Is that right?" Tseng nodded curtly before pressing a button on his hand held remote. The screen immediately changed and the previous picture was replaced with a large profile picture of an auburn haired man. Sean's eyes widened in recognition as he stared at the screen.

"Is that…" Sean trailed off. Reno glanced at the new SOLDIER from his peripherals and hummed in affirmation.

"Yup, Commander Genesis Rhapsodos- the former resident diva of ShinRa Electric Company, yo." Tseng rolled his eyes at the extra, unnessecary description but let Reno continue filling in the young new recruits. "He deserted ShinRa a few months back," Reno leaned back in his chair, linking his hands behind his head as he glanced lazily at Sean, Ilona and Rebecca. "Took a bunch of seconds and thirds with him." Before Rebecca could ask what Reno had meant by 'seconds' and 'thirds', Sean leaned forward on his elbows and clarified for the two near-clueless girls.

"He means SOLDIERs," Sean turned to his new fiery friend and narrowed his eyes in concentration. "Why are you showing us this?" Tseng smirked as he pressed another button, which brought up a picture a picture of a strong, broad man with a large sword strapped to his back, apparently running off after a winged, humanoid figure in a jungle. Seeing the confusion on the two junior Turks' faces, he turned to Reno and tilted his head in invitation for Reno to take the lead.

"We recently got word that SOLDIER First Class Angeal Hewley may have deserted as well during his assignment in Wutai. Zack was supposed to be there with him at the time but… things happened and it all got screwed up," Reno sighed and shook his head forlornly before turning to the screen and pointing at the picture. "We need to get Angeal and Genesis back to our base in Mideel before Hollander screws them up beyond repair." Rebecca groaned and buried her face into her palms.

"This is so complicated! Who are these guys and how are we going to find them and _what the heck is a Mideel_?!" Rebecca shook her head in her palms, her voice muffled by her hands and the table. Tseng nodded towards Reno in thanks, standing and taking over the briefing yet again. Sean raised his eyebrows at Reno who merely winked and sunk back deeper into his seat.

"Mideel is a relatively small settlement located on the Southern Continent- the Lifestream is able to reach the surface of the Planet over there and we believe that the strong influence of the Lifestream will quell the degradation of Angeal and Genesis' bodies until we can get Aerith to Mideel without being detected." Rebecca's eye twitched at all the new information. Ilona felt herself develop a terrible headache. Still, she sat up straight and tilted her head in concentration.

"Sorry to interrupt Tseng, but I just want to clarify a few details," Tseng stood still, gazing at Ilona emotionlessly. After a few moments of silence between the two, Reno rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"You can start 'clarifyin' your 'details' doll." Ilona spluttered at this, her cheeks turning pink as she began to gather her thoughts. Tseng's mouth twitched in what both Sean and Rebecca thought looked suspiciously like a smile.

"It's just that… you mentioned degradation and a Lifestream and Aerith. Are those two SOLDIERs sick or something? Is the Lifestream some kind of spiritual entity? Does Aerith have some kind of special power or something?" Sean smiled into his hand as he switched his gaze from Ilona to the table. She was definitely asking the right questions. The two girls had little exposure to the Final Fantasy VII franchise, so Sean wasn't surprised that they didn't know much about the people and the lore. Not that Sean claimed to know much more about the alternate universe himself- it was just nice to see that he wasn't the most clueless person in the room for once.

"I am not at liberty to say so in the presence of other ShinRa personnel," at this, Sean adopted an offended looking facial expression but remained quiet. "However the circumstances call for ignorance of company protocol." Tseng levelled at glare at Sean. "The things you will hear in this room are only to be discussed with those present at this moment- is that clear SOLDIER Third Class Sean?" Sean hummed in affirmation.

"Of course, I'm not at complete dumb ass." He deadpanned. Tseng ignored Sean's attempt at back-sass and gazed at his subordinates.

"Listen carefully. What I'm about to tell you might not make a lot of sense, but you will have to take my word for it," Rebecca held in a snort of laughter at Tseng's completely serious tone of voice. Leaning towards Ilona, she poked her face, gaining the small girl's attention briefly.

"This should be good," Ilona nodded, a small, humoured smile on her lips.

"Jenova… the Calamity of the Skies- when Professor Gast first discovered it at the Northern Crater with his team, he's classified the thing as an Ancient," Rebecca gasped dramatically.

"Are you saying that Hannah's staying with an alien Ancient thing?" Tseng finally broke composure and rolled his eyes.

"No, just listen to what I'm saying. No talking. Just listening. Just shut your lips for at least five minutes before you interrupt me again!" Reno whistled lowly.

"Damn girl, you're so hot when you piss Tseng off like that," Rebecca glared at Reno, feeling slightly embarrassed for being told off in front of everyone.

"Bite me." Rebecca snapped back before casting her eyes down to her twiddling thumbs. Truth be told, she did feel quite silly for being told off the way she had been. Strange situation or not- Tseng was kind of-sort of her boss and it was never fun getting told off by the boss in front of colleagues. Especially in front of dodgy colleagues like Reno.

Tseng took a deep breath, looking away from the two trouble makers and continuing his explanation.

"I apologise for my harshness, but what I am about to say needs to be heard. Jenova was classified as an Ancient but in reality she was not even remotely part of the Cetra race. As a matter of fact she was not even part of this world. So in a way, you can say that she was an alien. The Ancients are of this world, and Aerith is an Ancient- a Cetra. Therefore, she is _not_ an Alien. Do you follow Rebecca?" Tseng levelled his gaze on the surprised blond. She nodded, deciding to keep quiet and not retort back.

Ilona glanced at her friend and nearly giggled. The struggle on Rebecca's facial expression showed that she was definitely trying hard to stay put. Poor Rebecca…

Sean leaned forward, his form still clad in black jeans and a generic graphic t-shirt.

"Tseng, just tell us what you know. Quickly. You seem to know more than I want to think you know and that's unsettling. You know that Jenova's a bitch, you know we're not from this world and you still recruited us into your ranks and you insist on _protecting_ your target. From what I know about you mate, you're a company man through and through. Your actions and words here, however, go completely against what I expected. So dish already, what the hell are we here for?" Ilona blinked at her missing friend's brother in surprise before nodding up at Tseng in support of Sean's questions. Rebecca hummed quietly to show that she also wanted those pressing questions answered.

Reno tilted his head at Tseng and sighed.

"You… should probably tell them what you told me. I mean, all that other shit you planned to drone on about it in the file. I presume the rookies know how to read and Sean here has reliable contacts already," Sean spluttered at this.

"I do?" Reno nodded.

"Yeah, I got ya back bro." Sean couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. Seeing this, Ilona nudged Rebecca, a small grin on her own on her lips.

"Aww, bromance!" Rebecca rolled her eyes, but let out a low laugh in response. Tseng cleared his throat, gaining the attention of his subordinates.

"Very well then, I shall get to the point," Tseng turned to Ilona. "How old do I look right now?" Ilona blinked in confusion. She wondered what her superior was getting at.

"Um, to be completely honest… you look like you're in your early twenties sir," Ilona briefly glanced into Tseng' slanted eyes before looking away in embarrassment as she spied a hint of a smile on the man's lips.

"I am twenty eight at this moment of time, yet my mind is thirty seven years old." At this admission, Rebecca, Ilona and Sean shared an incredulous look before turning back to an impassive Tseng. Ilona decided to speak up.

"So, uh, ignoring the fact that you may have discovered the secret to immortality, you're saying that… your mind ages at a faster rate than your body?" Tseng shook his head.

"It seems that I have travelled backwards in time. By orders of the Goddess herself," Rebecca gasped, breaking her reluctant, effort filled silence. She grabbed Ilona's arm and gazed defiantly into Tseng's eyes.

"Don't tell me we've just joined a religious cult following!" Sean groaned and shook his head in disbelief. He definitely knew why the two were Michelle's best friends. Tseng took Rebecca's reaction in stride and shook his head.

"No, this has nothing to do with religious affiliation. This is about… putting things right," Tseng trailed off, a distant look in his eyes. "This is about second chances." Rebecca raised her eyebrows at this but chose not to say anything.

"This Goddess… sent you back in time with all your memories- past, present and future- intact so that you could repent for your sins?" Sean trailed off uncertainly. Reno gazed at the SOLDIER, a troubled glint in his glowing emerald eyes.

"Pretty sweet deal, if ya ask me. We Turks… we do so much crazy shit that would grant us a ticket straight to Ifrit's fiery hell," Reno sighed, finally sitting up straight in his seat for the first time. Rebecca narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. The man seemed to gravitate between two personalities: apathetic pervert and alert professional. "I didn't know if I could believe Tseng when he told us what was going on. Fuck, I still don't know if I can trust the crazy shit that comes out of his mouth these day," the red head turned to his superior, locking gazed with him. "But, shit, even if I find out he's feeding us delusions and hallucinations or something like that- I'd still hold on to the hope his crazy story gives me. I… can't fucking ignore this golden opportunity to get me some good karma." Reno turned to Tseng, a pained look in his eyes. "Sorry Tseng but… I gotta ask again. Are you for real?" Tseng sighed and raised a hand to head. He rubbed his scalp as he averted his gaze from Reno's broken look.

Reno was the Turks' 'ace', that was for sure. But that title didn't come without blood. Tseng couldn't look into the younger man's eyes, for he knew he would see into the battered soul of a broken man. So instead, Tseng stared into Rebecca's inquiring eyes and nodded to her.

"This is real. I had trouble believing it myself, but when Aerith and Rufus had informed me of their similar situation…" Rebecca let out a high pitched, startled noise. At this, Ilona gasped and stood up from her chair.

"So this Aerith chick knows who Hannah is! She knows that Hannah's not from here!" Rebecca exclaimed, a huge smile on her face. This was great! At least she knew one of her friends was with a knowledgeable ally. Rebecca's smile fell though, as she realised that no one had confirmed the Ancient was on their side. "She is an ally, right?" Tseng's lips twitched upward in amusement as he nodded.

"Yes, which is why we must do everything we can possibly do to protect her from this company," Ilona waved her hands around in a frenzy.

"Wait a second! Isn't Rufus one of the executives of this company?" Ilona piped up, panic laced in her airy voice. Sean nodded along.

"You want us to go against the company while one of its benefactors knows exactly what's going on?" Tseng's lips formed a grim line on his face, his eyes filled with regret. He wanted to look at someone and tell them with utmost confidence to trust in his words, but even he knew the ShinRa Company's legacy was full of sin. Having Rufus Shinra as an ally would be more of a curse than a blessing if he wanted these people to understand their plight.

"Rufus Shinra has assured me of his cooperation. He will do all he can to prevent his father from carrying out the terrible deeds he did in the name of the company," Tseng caught Reno's eyes and almost winced at the blazing trust he saw in them. The young man was a Turk. He was a killing machine. He was their ace… and yet, he was still innocent. Far more innocent than his future self.

Tseng vowed to himself that he'd do everything possible to maintain that dreg of innocence he saw in Reno's loyal gaze.

The Sector Seven plate would not drop. Thousands of people would be spared. This young man would _not_ be broken like his future self.

No, Reno would remain as ignorant and self-assured as he was at that moment.

Nodding to himself, Tseng ripped his gaze from his trusted Turk and turned to the new additions to his team.

"We must protect the Ancient whilst working under the guise of maintaining the interests of the company. That is, of course, what the Turks specialise in." Tseng stopped abruptly as Rebecca's head fell onto the conference table dramatically.

"This is _so damn complicated_!" Rebecca vented. Lifting her head from the hard surface, she shot Tseng a weak smile. "But, since you're so passionate about the cause, I guess I'll do what I can to help. I mean… dying in this world is not something I plan to do. Not before we find Michelle, that is." Ilona smiled kindly and raised her hand in agreement.

"I'm not entirely sure what's going on but… you're the boss. So, I'll only answer to you," Ilona cheered brightly. Tseng couldn't help but smile at the small girl's enthusiasm.

"You do understand that I am not currently the Director of the Turks? Veld's orders 'take priority' over my own." Reno stood up, loudly scraping his chair in the process. Sean shot him an annoyed look, which the red head promptly ignored. Turning to the two rookies, Reno made quotation marks in the air with his fingers.

"Yeah, they 'take priority'," Reno winked. Rebecca rolled her eyes at the joking man, somewhat relieved that he was back to being a dick. His serious face was very unsettling.

"We picked that up… under the guise of company interests and all that, yeah?" Tseng nodded, glad that the new recruits were actually intelligent enough to read between the lines. Ilona stood up from her chair and stretched, glancing at Sean who was beginning to stand himself.

"So, who does Sean answer to?" Ilona inquired. At this, Reno grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, no one. Just the Silver General," he drawled. Rebecca cringed.

"Sounds like something you'd name a sadistic robot," Rebecca remarked dryly.

As she spoke, she didn't realise that there was a rather intimidating man with long, silver hair standing at the door, outside her line of vision. Ilona glanced over her shoulder and couldn't help but gasp as she took in the impressive shock of impossibly long, silver hair and leather. Her eyes widened further as she took in the man's absurdly long weapon. It immediately made her think that the guy was trying to over compensate. However, one look at the man's no-nonsense face dispelled all nonsensical thoughts from her mind. She didn't know whether the tingly feeling she felt in her tummy was from awe or pure fear of the man. Ilona immediately clutched onto Rebecca's arm, shaking her.

"Um, shut up!" Rebecca glared at her best friend.

"Why? I know you were thinking it too!" Ilona shook her head, casting a glance over towards the stoic man who had now moved into the room. Reno chuckled.

"Speak of the devil! Punctual as always, General," the man nodded in response, casting a withering glance at the now alert Rebecca. Rebecca let out a sound that sounded suspiciously like a whimper of 'oh shit!', before averting her gaze and twiddling her thumbs to distract herself. Ilona tilted her head as she got enough control of her fear-stricken body to raise her arm and pat her extremely mortified friend on the back in an attempt to comfort her. "Girls and guy, meet General Sephiroth, SOLDIER First Class!" Sephiroth ignored Reno's theatrical introduction, turning to the tall blond woman and shooting her a withering glance.

"I resent that," his velvet voice permeated through the SOLDIER Briefing Room. "I am no robot, nor am I a sadist- despite popular opinion." With that said, the imposing presence turned his attention towards the saluting SOLDIER Third Class standing in the room. Briefly taking in the new recruit, Sephiroth nodded in approval. He could tell this one had a brain in him. That was always nice.

"At ease SOLDIER," Sephiroth turned to Tseng. "Are you finished? Hojo's just left for some seminar in Junon and Dr. Sykes would like to get the treatment started as soon as possible." Ilona stiffened at the mention of treatment. Sean's eyes widened.

"Treatment, sir?" Sephiroth nodded, staring into his inferior officer's slightly glowing dark eyes.

"Yes. The mako immersion. All ShinRa field agents go through the procedure. It's routine and non-fatal, unlike the injection Hojo administered to you earlier today." Sean grimaced at the memory of the greasy scientist. His gaze softened as he took in Sephiroth's stoic features… this strong man was that deranged scientist's son. How sad…

"Well, if we're done here," Sean turned to Tseng, who merely nodded in affirmation, "we should get going. Before that asshole Hojo shows up again." Sephiroth nodded in agreement. Turning to Tseng and Reno, he nodded stiffly before gesturing at the two young women in his presence to follow him. With a hasty wave of farewell to Tseng and Reno, Rebecca and Ilona scurried out after Sean and Sephiroth. As they walked, Sephiroth spoke- somewhat startling the trio.

"After the treatment, you'll be taken through a brief, yet strenuous training orientation." Rebecca and Ilona exchanged wary glances but chose to remain silent until they were not in Sephiroth's presence any longer. Ilona was particularly worried about the 'strenuous' exercise part. However she didn't voice her worry. Rather, she scurried along the endless hallways, walking side by side with her taller best friend. Ilona smiled as Rebecca's arm brushed against hers accidentally. At least she had someone she knew with her. She refrained from giggling as Sean tripped and nearly fell into Sephiroth if it weren't for the impressive man turning and catching his subordinate before he fell.

Yeah, she definitely didn't have to go through any of this alone. And for that, she was extremely grateful.

However, Ilona thought, she couldn't say the same for Hannah or Michelle. Sure, Hannah looked like she was well in the picture she saw. That didn't mean that she wasn't scared in an unfamiliar environment. And Michelle… who knew where she was! Ilona sighed as she speed walked towards an open elevator, the last one in. Sephiroth glanced at her and nodded curtly, which made her avert her gaze.

Being with people she knew still didn't calm her mind as she struggled to get used to the new people, places and protocols of this new workplace… this new world. Still… she supposed she had it better than Hannah and Michelle, and for that reason, she would have to feel grateful.

Forcing herself to straighten her back and smile lightly, she glanced at Rebecca and Sean, who were looking at her with concern in their eyes. She smiled and shook her head at them, focusing her gaze onto the elevator console.

At least she had people who genuinely cared amidst all the confusion.

That was enough to be grateful for.

**Note:** Let me know what you all think in a review if you can spare the time :) Thanks!


	4. Training the Rookies

**A.N: _Eep! So it's been more than a week since I updated this story- not too bad though for me hehe! I realise the story is moving a little slowly friends, but I just wanted to take another chapter to cement the ideas introduced in the last chapter. Okay, now I'd just like to thank Anonymous Potato for the beautiful reviews *hearts*- you keep me posting HAHAHA! And hehe... Dr. Sykes- you know who you are ;) Thank you Bunny for texting me about how much you enjoy these chapters! I really grin like a mad woman when I receive your praise! Becca... I love how I wrote your character to much- she's so complex BUAHAHAHAHA! I really hope the awkward interactions with Reno don't make you hit me the next time you see me! *hugs* :D_**

**_Enjoy the chapter all! :)_**

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><p><strong>Chapter Three: Training the Rookies <strong>

**Location: Level 49- SOLDIER Training Room**

Rebecca found herself frowning as her eyes burned and the insides of her nostrils seemed to dry up. The slight whirring sounds coming from the air-conditioning vent also began to promise her one heck of a head ache. The tall blonde turned to Reno, who was leaning against the metallic wall with an apathetic expression fixed on his sharp facial features. The red head caught Rebecca's glance and smirked at her.

"Is there something on my face? Or are you just admiring my dashing good looks?" He quipped. Rebecca merely tilted her head in inquiry.

"Your dialect… it keeps changing. Why?" She questioned. Reno's face broke out into a grin as he pushed himself off the wall. Walking towards the suit-clad woman, he gestured to himself dramatically.

"I'm not the 'Ace' for nothin', ya know?" Rebecca narrowed her eyes in slight annoyance as he walked past her, into the empty space of the Training Room. It had been only her and Reno in the Training Room for over half an hour now and she was getting slightly antsy. When she'd woken up in a tube full of breathable green liquid, she's bashed on the inside of her glass tube until Dr. Gemma Sykes had quickly let her out.

Rebecca found herself grinning as she remember the exasperated sigh the purple haired scientist had heaved as she'd passed Rebecca her copy of the complete Employee Medical Report. She didn't even have to speak to annoy the woman-. Rebecca's brows furrowed though as she continued to think about the good doctor- her knowledgeable countenance was strangely familiar and comforting…

Shrugging her shoulders, Rebecca turned to approach the eccentric red-head loitering around behind her. As she turned, she was surprised to find Reno on the ground, doing push-ups with practiced ease. Walking forward, she nudged his surprisingly elegant looking hands with the toe of her sneakers.

"When do you think the others will leave their test tubes?" Rebecca scowled when Reno let himself drop to the floor as he let out a boisterous laugh. Rolling on the floor so that he was now face up, Reno casually shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't really know babe, I ain't no scientist. So don't go asking me anything about that mako shit, cos' I'd probably just piss you off with my half-assed answers," Reno pulled himself up from his position on the floor so that he was seated upright. He began to perform some routine stretches, letting a look of relaxed satisfaction take over his features. Rebecca raised an eyebrow at the Senior Turk's behaviour.

"Okay… so what can I do while I wait for Ilona and Sean to finish… fermenting?" Reno looked up from his stretching as Rebecca trailed off, an uncertain tone to her voice. She was obviously outside her comfort zone. Reno sighed as he nimbly hauled himself off the ground before grabbing Rebecca's forearm and dragging her towards the exit. Rebecca spluttered in shocked protest before Reno sharply tugged her, causing her to collide with his side. "What the hell, Reno?" she protested loudly. Reno rolled his eyes and gesture at the electro-mag rod hanging off his wrist strap.

"Since we're not doin' anything, I reckon we should go get you equipped," Rebecca's eyes widened in realisation as she nodded dumbly. Reno chuckled at this, resuming his tugging, although he was being gentle this time. "Plus, I can't have you worrying about 'Lona an' Sean- you'll tire yourself out before the training even starts. Can't have that happening, or else you won't be able to go on the Turk's traditional Sector 8 Patrol." Reno glanced at Rebecca just as they entered the hallway, walking past SOLDIERs as they continued their friendly banter. "That's always a treat, yo!" He grinned at the woman beside him, who was a few centimetres shy of being his own height, and threw her a humoured wink.

"Get over yourself." Rebecca deadpanned, the inklings of a growing grin on her lips.

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><p><span><strong>Location: Level 68- ShinRa Labs<strong>

Sean coughed and spluttered unnecessarily as the tank was drained of the green liquid he was submerged in previously. Ilona shot the older man an unimpressed look before turning towards the eccentric looking doctor who was currently singing cheerily to herself.

"_They don't know what we do best  
>It's between me and you, our little secret<br>But I wanna tell 'em~!"*****_

Ilona raised her eyebrows at the familiar sounding lyrics, but immediately shook her head. One Direction… couldn't _possibly_ exist in Gaia. That would just be ludicrous! Ilona was sure that this world had their own sensationalised boy bands, judging by some of the music she had heard as she passed the reception desk on her way to the labs.

A quiet cough brought her out of her reverie, causing her head to swivel towards the origin of the sound. Her dark eyes widened as she spotted Sephiroth sitting on an uncomfortable looking plastic chair with his arms crossed as he stared right at her. Meekly waving at the scary General, Ilona lightly wrapped on the glass to get the doctor's attention.

"Oh," Gemma jumped, her off-tune singing interrupted as she turned towards Ilona. The short, purple-haired doctor grinned up at the tubed young woman as she ambled up to the glass. "You're awake! I'm _so _glad! I thought that it might take longer, but Mr. Genius here said that you were showing preliminary signs of 'crystallisation' or something so I had to drain you." Gemma threw Sephiroth a withering look as the man merely replied with a roll of his green, feline eyes. Ilona cocked her head to the side, thoroughly confused.

"Um, aren't you supposed to be the expert? You _have_ done this before, right?" Ilona questioned nervously. It was then that she had noticed all of the beeping and flashing metallic machinery in the room. The small brunette gulped as she stood in surprisingly dry in her Turk uniform, staring at the clearly eccentric doctor before her. Ilona began to question if the woman standing before her was even a doctor.

A nervous shiver ran down the young woman's spine.

Rebecca was also nowhere in sight. Ilona began to show visible signs of panic.

"She's with Reno," a smooth baritone resonated in the whirring and beeping room. Ilona's head whipped towards the direction of the voice, her eyes widening in acknowledgement. Sephiroth nodded at the small Turk before casting his gaze down to his hands. Following his gaze, Ilona realised that he was holding a light blue uniform and a familiar looking helmet. They'd seen the same uniformed people wearing the helmets on the SOLDIER Floor.

"Is that Sean's uniform?" Ilona inquired, her curiosity piqued. Sephiroth grunted his affirmation, taking a quick look at the slowly draining tube of SOLDIER Third Class Sean. He looked like he was in much better condition after being submerged in mako, which was a relief. That would mean that the young man could join Zack Fair and himself in their search for both Angeal and Genesis. Tseng hadn't mentioned much to him, but Sephiroth knew that finding both of his good friends was key to 'preventing future chaos' and 'saving priceless lives'.

The Silver General disliked being kept out of the loop, but Tseng was a trusted ally- even if he worked for the Turks- and he would trust the man with his life. As such, he personally approved the Turks' covert operations, sending his SOLDIERs out after surprisingly brief conferences with SOLDIER Director Lazard Deusericus.

Sephiroth frowned. It was almost as if even Lazard _knew_ what was going on…

The pondering man was abruptly wrenched out of his thoughts as Sean stumbled out of his tube, a bewildered look on his face.

"I feel… great!" Ilona smiled at her missing friend's older brother, feeling genuinely happy that he wasn't unwell. Sephiroth let out a humourless chuckle as he stood up and threw the uniform at an unprepared Sean, who managed to dangerously fumble with the pile of clothes and accessories before bringing them safely to his chest. Standing ram-rod straight, Sean lifted an arm to salute his superior. "Thank you sir! I will go get changed sir!" Sephiroth sighed and looked away from his subordinate.

"We will be working closely in the near future, so you have permission to address me as Sephiroth." Sean's eyes widened at his General's statement.

"For real?" Sean asked, amazement in his eyes. Sephiroth nodded mutely before sparing a blank glance at Ilona, who merely shrugged at Sean's obvious hero-worship. Quickly realising he was stalling, for reasons unknown to him, Sephiroth cleared his throat and quietly excused himself.

"I'll be in the SOLDIER Training Room. I expect you both to be there in a thirty minutes. Be prompt." And with that said, the intimidating General swept out of the room, his long silver hair and coat drifting elegantly behind him.

Sean nudged Ilona, who looked up at him with her eyebrows raised.

"Yes?" Ilona inquired, her tone slightly exasperated.

"Did you see him? Wow." Sean dramatically stated, his eyes wide and sparkling with enthusiasm. After a few more moments of staring at the space Sephiroth previously occupied before he quickly turned to the smirking 'doctor' in the lab.

"Where can I change, Gem?" The purple-haired woman grinned and pointed at what looked like a specimen containment unit and shrugged when Sean levelled her with a confused look.

"Hey, it might stink like boogers but it will ensure your privacy," Gemma stated. Sean shrugged at this and quickly scurried into the containment unit, sliding the door shut as he got ready to change out of his jeans and graphic t-shirt. Ilona turned to Gemma, a frown on her face as she studied the short woman dressed in a perfectly fit and done up lab coat.

"I'm sorry, I think… I know you from somewhere—" Ilona tried to address Gemma, but was cut off by the strange doctor.

"_Written in these walls are the stories that I can't explain  
>I leave my heart open but it stays right here empty for days,"<strong>**<strong>_

Gemma grinned- although the mirth on her lips didn't seem to quite reach her eyes- and winked at Ilona before flouncing off, her immaculate white lab coat drifting after her. The brunette Turk watched the dodgy doctor leave, feeling somewhat cheated and slightly violated. She quickly brought herself out of her disturbing, strange thoughts and made her way to the chair Sephiroth had previously occupied.

As she waited for Sean to finish changing (he was taking an _awfully_ long time to do so), her thoughts went back to Gemma and the sad glint she'd caught in the woman's eyes just before she'd left. She seemed to strange, yet so familiar at the same time. Ilona shrugged to herself, dispelling the thought of the strange doctor. At least she wasn't sprouting extra limbs of chucking up her breakfast- not that she'd actually had much to eat. Ilona pouted at the thought of her less-than-stellar breakfast of dry toast and half a glass of water. She was starving!

Ilona found herself salivating at the thought of hot chips slathered in tomato sauce just as Sean emerged from the containment cubicle. Dressed in his new uniform, Sean smirked at Ilona.

"Did the General get bored?" Ilona shrugged.

"I don't really know… let's just head to the Training Room," Ilona shot Sean a bashful look. "You… know how to get there, yeah?" Sean rolled his eyes good naturedly, increasing his pace so that he was now in front of Ilona, leading the way out of Dr. Gemma Syke's lab.

"It's like you have the memory of a gold fish," Sean began, drawing a look of contempt from Ilona which he conveniently didn't see. "How did you and Michelle navigate through locations when you guys hung out?" Ilona giggled at this, a little embarrassed as she remembered that Michelle also had a penchant for losing herself in unfamiliar environments.

"Not too sure… but she never let her spatially-challenged mind stop her from looking for that over-sized rubber duck in the harbour back home, remember?" Ilona quipped, mirth filled in her airy voice. Sean chuckled at the memory, recalling how Michelle had arrived home that evening after a disappointing day at Darling Harbour, trying to unsuccessfully summon the huge, 'adorable' duck. Sean grimaced slightly as he thought of the duck. In his opinion, the damn thing was just plain creepy.

"Oh yeah, she went on about the 'crippling disappointment' for days. God, she was annoying." Sean smiled fondly. Ilona frowned in worry as she followed the SOLDIER Third Class in front of her. She wondered where her friend was now. Was she lost? Was she scared? Was she… even alive?

Ilona took a deep breath and clenched her fists as she continued walking, willing the morbid thoughts out of her head.

If there was anyone capable of coming out on top, against all odds- it would have to be Michelle. Somehow, she always managed to find a way to struggle back to the top after being knocked off. Ilona nodded firmly as she renewed her belief in Michelle's resilience and mental strength. Looking up at the back of Sean's head, she allowed herself to smile.

"Hey Sean," the man in front of her stopped, his shoulders tense as he turned around. Face marred with worry, Sean looked nothing like the carefree guy she used to greet briefly when she'd hang out at Michelle's place along with Rebecca. Stepping forward, Ilona placed a comforting hand on his pauldron and grinned up optimistically. "She'll be okay. She's Moosh! Plus, I bet she's more worried about us than herself. So, try to cheer up- okay?" Sean stared down at Ilona before heaving a tired sigh.

"Yeah, yeah… someone's got to look after you little turds. I can't afford to be off my game." Ilona frowned at the 'endearment' but kept quiet as she offered the man in front of her another comforting pat on his upper arm before pushing him forward, silently requesting him to continue leading the way.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Location: Level 49- SOLDIER Floor<strong>

Tseng spotted Ilona and Sean walking towards the SOLDIER Training Room approximately fifteen minutes before training was to commence. Nodding to himself in silent approval of his new Turk's idea of punctuality, he moved to intercept her before she reached her destination. Raising his hand in a silent greeting to Sean, he turned to address Ilona.

"Ilona, a word please?" He requested politely. Ilona jumped slightly, not having noticed Tseng's presence as she was too busy watching Sean's feet stomp all over the shiny linoleum tiles.

"Ah, yes sir!" Tseng made brief eye contact with Ilona before silently gesturing over his shoulder. She was to follow him. Gulping nervously, Ilona wondered whether she had already done something wrong. With a slight pout on her lips, she came to a stand-still, her hands and feet crossed as she leaned upright against a nearby wall.

Tseng stepped closer to Ilona, clearly ignoring her need for personal space as he began to speak in low tones.

"While SOLDIER and the Turks are working collaboratively for this long-term assignment, there are few people outside the Turks who know about the 'time-travel' aspect. This short briefing session serves the purpose of providing you with the identities of those who have been in contact with Minerva in the distant future." Tseng bore his gaze down on Ilona, who nodded slightly, looking anywhere but at the man's intimidating eyes.

"Yes sir," she stated, hoping she sounded calm. She was getting slightly nervous, worried that she might screw something up.

"As you know, few others- along with myself-have been sent back nine years from a bleak future," Tseng took in a slight breath before continuing, "to make things _right_." Ilona couldn't help but look up at her superior's face, noticing a pained look on his expression. Tseng caught her gaze and continued to speak. "The people you may speak freely to about delicate matters pertaining to this assignment are Aerith Gainsborough, Rufus Shinra, Lazard Deusericus, Cloud Strife and Reeve Tuesti. No one else can know of the additional information we have about the future," Tseng sighed, sounding tired. "Rebecca and Reno have already been notified of this."

"Sir, do _any _of the SOLDIERs- besides Sean- know about any of this? I mean, what if they start asking questions?" Ilona worried. Tseng levelled her with a hard stare, moving impossibly closer, so that she could feel his breath on her forehead. Ilona felt tears prickling at her eyes from frustration. She wanted nothing but to shove the strong, imposing man away from her and tell him to get lost- but she was helpless.

It was at this point that she came to the realisation that the people she 'worked' with could turn around and slaughter her without her even having the time to bat an eyelid.

Ilona shivered as she forced herself to make eye-contact with her intimidating superior.

"Lie to them." He deadpanned before promptly stepping away and walking off to greet Rebecca and Reno- the former carrying a chain-whip and a large silver case in her hands. Judging by the grin on her face, Ilona guessed that Rebecca had a good time with Reno.

Ilona was slightly miffed at that idea, but quickly shook her head and jogged towards them.

Hateful thoughts about her incompatibility with her 'work-mates' could come later. For now, she had a training session to get through.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Location: Level 49- SOLDIER Training Room<strong>

Rebecca grinned expectantly at Ilona as the smaller woman fiddled with her new, titanium-reinforced twin pistols. Branded with the ShinRa logo on each opposing barrel, the mousy young woman was starting to look like a true Turk. Rebecca, herself, gripped the golden handle of her linked-chain whip with her right hand, examining the sharp metal hook at the tip of the chain with interest.

"I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that thing," a cheery, male voice stated. Dropping the small blade, Rebecca lifted her head as she let her gaze drift over the youthful features of what appeared to be a man dressed in a SOLDIER Second Class uniform. As the cheery man moseyed into the Training Room, Sean grabbed his newly acquired hand bombs- making sure the remote detonator was placed securely in a zip-up pocket- before making his way to his superior.

"Hey Zack, I wasn't expecting you to be here." Sean spoke from behind his helmet. Zack grinned as he recognised the voice from the infirmary.

"Sean, you're okay! That's really great man," Zack leaned forward excitedly before catching sight of Sephiroth and immediately relaxing his position into one more 'dignified' and less puppy-like. "I'm actually here to… mentor you. So get used to seeing this handsome mug!" Zack finished, with a flourished gesture towards his face.

Sephiroth scoffed from where he was leaning against the Training Room wall. Pulling himself to his full height, the Silver General did a quick head-count. Tseng stood to the side, his arms folded across his chest and his suit as immaculate as always. A few meters away, Reno insistently tugged at a frowning Ilona's hair as she unsuccessfully tried to load her pistols. Sephiroth found himself shaking his head at the unprofessional sight. He spotted Rebecca standing close to the door, resuming her thorough inspection of her chosen weapon. Sean and Zack seemed to be getting along well, with Zack already running Sean through some warm-up drills.

Sephiroth nodded in approval. The puppy did have a sense of responsibility after all.

"Alright, this training session is a joint operations between the Turks and SOLDIER. The focus of this session is to cultivate our teamwork, increase competence in new weaponry and most importantly- to exercise proper measures of stealth and discretion. Any questions?" Sephiroth let his gaze linger on the newcomers for a few moments, finding that their faces had become somewhat dazed.

Sephiroth shot Tseng a wary look, who in turn, merely shook his head dismissively before turning to his team. Sephiroth let out an exasperated sigh and turned on his hell to make his way to the two SOLDIERs in his charge.

This promised to be _very_ interesting.

* * *

><p>Rebecca grimaced as she crouched down behind lush, green foliage. Swatting away some pesky insects, she observed Zack as he expertly hacked and slashed at the enemies generated by their virtual-reality goggles. Rebecca found herself shivering as she watched blood spray over the dirt Zack stood on, warily eying the cheery man as he enthusiastically moved on to the next one.<p>

It was all _very_ disturbing- especially when the man's smile hadn't let up the whole time he fought.

Feeling a sharp elbow dig into her ribs, the tall woman turned her head sharply and glared at the red-head beside her. Somehow, Reno and Rebecca had ended up separated from Tseng and Ilona while they tried to apprehend the one of the targets before Zack swooped in a slashed the virtual man's head off. Tseng signalled them to retreat, and so, Reno had promptly grasped Rebecca's hand in his own and ran for his life- dragging an indignant and spluttering Rebecca with him. From what Rebecca could gather from her last moments gazing at the Turks' second-in-command, Ilona and Tseng has headed into the abandoned warehouse undetected.

Rebecca growled at the unfairness of the situation. Sephiroth, Zack and Sean were _super soldiers_ apparently, while the Turks were slightly enhanced human beings. Zack- being the mischievous man-puppy he was- decided that it would be a good idea to draw attention to the Turks' operations just as they were about to succeed. Doing this, the man then spirited away with his super-soldier powers.

He was like a real-life internet troll and Rebecca was not impressed in the slightest.

Reno nudged her again, and it took most of her fading self-control to bite the inside of her lip to stop an onslaught of curses from escaping. Smirking apologetically, Reno nodded at the back entrance of the warehouse. It was slightly ajar, and if Rebecca squinted, she could see a now-familiar warm brown glow.

Rebecca smirked to herself. So, Ilona managed to find a way to sneak the rest of the Turks in. Sweet!

Turning to Reno, Rebecca raised her eyebrows in inquiry. Reno tilted his head to Zack, who was still happily hacking away at what seemed to be a _dead_ corpse. The young woman shuddered at the sight and gestured towards the back entrance.

"So, while he's still _occupied_, we make a run for it?" Rebecca whispered. Reno nodded back in turn.

"You got it, Becca! When I say go, just run- I'll be right behind you." Rebecca nodded, grateful for the cover as she got ready to sprint towards her best friend. Reno quickly glanced at surrounding area, noticing a stray Bandersnatch ambling unwittingly onto the dirt pathway to the warehouse. The red-head grinned as he switched his electro-mad rod on and got ready to bounce out from the bushes. Sparing a final glance at a nervous looking Rebecca, he reached out to pat her clammy hand- which caused her to flinch slightly at the contact- before he gave the okay to move.

"Go." He commanded in a low tone. Rebecca sprinted out of the foliage, her chain-whip clutched in her hand, coiled up around her arm at the ready. Reno took off not a second afterwards, heading towards the pale wolf-like creature with a predatory scowl on his sharp features. Raising his electro-mag rod across his body, he brought it down immediately- catching the creature right on the head with the electrical energy and high inertia. With a whimper, the Bandersnatch stumbled backwards before growling and launching itself at Reno. Reno smirked and swung at the creature again, this time burning some of the creature's hide with the high voltage shock he delivered to it. The Bandersnatch convulsed momentarily before stumbling back onto its hind legs. Letting out a low growl, the creature pounced onto Reno with a large amount of force, resulting in Reno falling onto his back with a loud curse. Teeth punctured flesh and a pained yelp escaped Reno's mouth as he forcefully rammed his EMR into the creature's side.

"Fuck you," Reno spat at the snarling monster, as he was forced fully onto his back due to the sheer weight of the creature pinning him down. Just as Reno closed his eyes, anticipating the final bite that would incapacitate him for weeks, the jingling sound of the hurled chain met his ears. Eyes widening in both relief and fear, Reno hoped that Rebecca had good aim.

A pained, guttural whimper coming from the monster that had just collapsed on him proved that Rebecca had _great_ aim.

With a tired grunt, Reno hauled the dead weight off himself and sat up, somewhat dazed. Rebecca stared at Reno momentarily, a flicker of fear passing through her stormy eyes before they became hard again. She offered him a hand, which he gratefully took. Pulling him up, Rebecca dragged him unceremoniously towards the warehouse's back entrance where it seemed Tseng had placed his hands on Ilona's shoulders to stop her from running out to aid Rebecca.

Shooting them all a bashful grin, Reno painfully shrugged his shoulders.

"And that… is what a typical rookie mistake looks like. Don't forget it, yo." Reno offered with a wince. Rebecca merely rolled her eyes, not realising that she was still grasping onto the annoying man's hand. Ilona's eyes trailed towards their joined hands, letting a small smile grace her lips before she shrugged Tseng's loose hands off her shoulders and tilted her head towards a bunch of crates piled on top of each other in the middle of the dirty room.

"I think I saw Sean lurking around there earlier… we've got to watch him since he's the one with the bombs," Tseng nodded quietly. Ilona frowned at the taller man, wondering why he wasn't doing anything to help. It was almost like he was testing and observing them…

Suddenly, the environment started to disintegrate before their eyes and soon, they'd returned back to the metallic insides of the SOLDIER Training Room. Rebecca immediately wrenched off the virtual reality goggles and spun around to face the Silver General, who calmly logged off from training interface using his PHS (or phone- Rebecca still had a little trouble getting used to the strange lingo in Gaia).

"What was _that_ for?" She protested. Ilona stepped up next to Rebecca, goggle-free and frowning.

"We were actually getting somewhere!" Sephiroth nodded in acknowledgement. Tseng and Reno ambled up towards Rebecca and Ilona, staring expectantly at Sephiroth. Sean and Zack jogged towards the group, Zack sweating and grinning while Sean wore a strangely satisfied expression on his face. Rebecca growled at him, causing his grin to fall from his face.

"I saw your quick improvement and I am very impressed. I'm sure Tseng is happy with what he observed today," turning to Tseng, he acknowledged the older man's nod of affirmation before turning back to the two girls. "However, Sean had successfully riddled the warehouse with explosives and with five seconds left for detonation, I could not risk causing you any injury that would incapacitate you." Sephiroth threw Reno a weary look, realising belatedly that the flirty Turk looked quite beaten up.

Noticing this, Reno winked at Sephiroth.

"Even the monsters what a slice of Reno," he drawled. Rebecca scoffed, crossing her arms as she regarded the injured man before her.

"More like you have a bit of a 'hero-complex'," Rebecca retorted. Reno gasped, feigning hurt.

"Oh, that wounds me." Rebecca rolled her eyes, but silently thanked him in her mind for looking out for her.

Seeing the conflicted look on her best friend's face, Ilona giggled, catching the attention of the General, who merely levelled her with a black stare. Feeling embarrassed, Ilona opted to stare at the toes of her black leather shoes as she listened to Sephiroth's smooth baritone continue addressing the group.

"I have also been notified that both Genesis and Angeal have been sighted in Banora… and that Professor Hojo is… missing," Sephiroth trailed off, suddenly sounding uncertain. Sean raised his eyebrows at this as he stepped forward to address the group.

"Wasn't he just here… he'd just given me an injection a few hours ago!" Sean exclaimed. Sephiroth nodded, a confused look on his face. So much was happening, and there was no time to think about it all! It was frustrating for the usually-knowledgeable General.

"That is why only his… next of kin has been notified," Sephiroth stated shortly. Tseng remained aloof at this news, as did Reno and Sean. However, Zack, Ilona and Rebecca all gasped as the shock revelation finally registered with them. Zack stepped up to Sephiroth, his sky-blue eyes wide in amazement and shock.

"Hojo's… your _dad_?" Zack asked incredulously.

Rebecca and Ilona waited with bated breath for the Silver General's answer.

The proud man merely turned his gaze from the group and swept towards the exit, shoulders hunched in defeat.

Tseng frowned, but remained quiet as the girls and Zack turned to him with wide, curious eyes.

Things were going downhill _very_ fast.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: <em>*Lyrics to 1D's <span>They Don't Know About Us<span>, ** Lyrics to 1D's Story of My Life  
><span>_**I hope you appreciate my researching for appropriate song lyrics pertaining to your favourite band Dr. Sykes xD Oh yes, the duck story is real- just in case any silent readers are wondering :) IT WAS SOOO DISAPPOINTING :( Reviews make me grin for days :D


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